Knives Mitin Sergiush
What kind of knife is needed and for what?
What kind of knife is needed and for what?
A knife is a tool designed exclusively for cutting. Therefore, the question in the title may seem meaningless; but this is only at first glance. Yes, there are no words, if we want to cut something, we can do it with any knife. But the success, convenience, and safety of working with a knife, and, on top of everything else, the durability of the knife itself depend on how the size and shape of the knife are adapted to the quality of the material being cut and the conditions of the operation itself. You can cut bread with a double-edged dagger, but it is much more convenient to do this with an ordinary kitchen knife. With a small thin knife for peeling potatoes you can skin and gut an elk or cut branches to build a hut in the field - another thing is how long it will take, how much effort it will require and how often during such work you will have to sharpen the knife. It’s one thing to cut a soft or rough material, such as cardboard; it’s quite another to cut something harder, but not abrasive, such as wood. It’s one thing to have a knife designed for combat, and another thing to use it for rescue work. Even in the kitchen we use at least two or three different knives. In other words, function dictates form.
To make the choice easier, to understand why and what kind of knife should be used, I propose dividing knives into groups - according to their purpose and, therefore, according to their properties. Let's start, of course, with a few very significant notes about the features of each type of knife.
Folding or fixed blade? First a knife appeared, no doubt with a fixed blade. I often hear that the folding knife was invented in the past century or a little earlier; and also, they say, folding knives are certainly small and are needed only for cutting paper or sharpening pencils. Both of these opinions are incorrect. Folding knives, with locking blades, were known in Southern European countries (for example, Italy or Spain) already in the early Middle Ages. Most often they were used as a tool, but not only... The law prohibited commoners (not nobles) from carrying weapons, that is, swords and daggers. What did those who wanted to have and carry weapons come up with to protect themselves from robbers, and sometimes, probably, from nobles? They decided to lengthen the traditional folding knife, which the Spaniards call navaja(reads: navaja). Its length - when folded - was brought to the elbow (about 0.5 m), which, admittedly, aroused respect. And the open navaja was slightly inferior in length to the sword of a robber or a nobleman, which, I note by the way, sometimes it was not so difficult to confuse them. Lock - a medieval prototype of a type of locking device widely used today back lock - held the blade bare firmly and reliably. The idea of such a “little innocent penknife” was liked by everyone, including the robbers. Obviously, this is what made Navaja extremely popular in Spain. Exact copies of this kind of knives, along with high-tech modern ones, are still produced, and collectors willingly buy them. Today's robbers prefer, of course, more modern weapons. Apparently, this was one of the reasons that the size of the Navaja returned to its origins, although very large specimens are still found (ill. 21).
Politicians who write laws do not assimilate historical experience well. Nowadays, in many European countries and a number of US states, the law prohibits the concealed carrying of a knife with a fixed blade, no matter what its size. But if someone gets stuck, he will certainly find a way out. You just need to buy one of the knives that are commonly called in English mega folders or giant folding knives (Fig. 22).
It is clear that secretly carrying a folding knife in urban conditions is incomparably more convenient and reliable. This is the most significant advantage of a knife, which decisively influences the choice, at least on my own. After all, the knife you wear constantly, and you use they rarely. Modern folding knives can be easily opened with one hand, so in terms of the speed and ease of preparing them for work, they differ little from knives with a fixed blade. Most everyday operations that require the use of a knife can be performed in urban environments with a folding knife. In addition, he has one more undoubted advantage: those around him do not look at him so askance. After all, many people, not only in Poland, consider a knife to be a prohibited item, bad, indicating unhealthy inclinations of its owner. If you, intentionally or accidentally, let it slip that you are carrying a knife, it can cause a much bigger commotion than if you said that you are carrying a firearm. Such a reaction, at first glance senseless, is to a certain extent justified. After all, the acquisition and carrying of firearms requires permission from the relevant authorities, and it is believed that the one who carries such a weapon has permission (otherwise he would not make this fact public). And if so, then it is known who he is and why he carries weapons, but more importantly, the authorities know about it. Anyone can buy and carry a knife; there is no need for permission from the authorities, and there is no need to tell anyone about it. Regardless of whether this kind of approach is correct and whether the belief that when issuing a firearms permit, the authorities always know what they are doing is true, I believe that the hostility of part of society towards knives that are constantly in people's pockets is justified. Alas, we live in a society, not on a desert island.
A folding knife also causes a similar reaction, although not as sharp as a knife with a fixed blade of the same size. I myself have been convinced of this more than once, when exclusively for peaceful purposes - say, to open cardboard box, - resorted to the services of either a folding knife or a knife with a fixed blade. Although they are almost the same size and very similar to each other, others react to them differently. A penknife can provoke an innocent joke, something like: “Oh, but you, however, dangerous man! If you pull out a knife with a fixed blade, and your peaceful intentions are completely obvious, a stranger, even your casual acquaintance, will most likely simply remain silent; but it happens that he will begin to look around, as if wondering whether to give him a break. I'm exaggerating, of course, but only a little (illustrations 23 and 24).
The weak point of a folding knife is the movable connection between the blade and the handle. Excessive force can break the knife, and most likely it will break in this place. This probably won’t cause you any particular trouble, but it could be different. Folding knives without locking, in my opinion, are only suitable for light work - say, for sharpening pencils or cutting envelopes. Incomparably great opportunities folding knives with a locking blade, but the limits of these capabilities are determined by the reliability of the locking mechanism. When talking about reliability, I mean not so much the flawless operation of the blocking device (although that too), but rather its stability. According to my observations, even if none of the components of the locking device are damaged, many things can confuse it and lead to spontaneous folding of the knife. The operation of the locking mechanism may also be disrupted if the knife is dirty. When, for example, it is all in the ground or covered with dried blood, hair and fat from a gutted animal that you shot while hunting, the lock will not work, and, therefore, the folding knife will be useless - at least until you clean it out. I will return to the question of the reliability of the locking mechanisms of folding knives and methods for checking them.
Practical advice: in urban environments it is better to use a folding knife; When going on a trip to the outback, it is preferable, however, to take a knife with a fixed blade with you.
The main advantage of a knife with a fixed blade compared to a folding one is its significantly more stable and durable design, and therefore greater safety for the user. If the knife is made well and the core, which is a continuation of the blade, passes through the entire handle, to its very end, there is no reason to fear that the blade will “fold” and cover the fingers of its owner, which are not capable of regrowth. A knife with a fixed blade has only one danger: you can break it. How much strength you need to have for this depends on the size and design of the knife, as well as on the materials from which it is made. If the end of the core is visible protruding from the handle - and we know the thickness of the blade, and we have an idea of the endurance of the steel - we already know what we are dealing with. If we want to know more, we can contact the manufacturer or delve into trustworthy specialist literature. For example, a Swedish company F?llkniven published on its website on the Internet the results of laboratory tests of the knives it produces for strength. Knife Model A1 broke under a load on the handle of 242 kg. In practice, this means that three adults can hang on the handle of a knife driven into something hard to a depth of 5 cm, that is, the force will be directed across the plane of the blade, or along the line of least resistance. So try to break it with your hands, unless, of course, you are a superman!
Of course, this example is out of the ordinary. I never tire of repeating that a knife is a tool intended exclusively for cutting, and should not be turned into a crowbar or pry bar. I argued a lot on this topic with the owner and head of the company F?llkniven Peter Hjortberger, emphasizing that the stronger the knife, the thicker it is, and therefore heavier. But increasing the thickness of the blade also reduces its ability to cut. Peter objected: “What is the point of repeating that a knife is not a crowbar, when it is sometimes turned into a crowbar anyway. And much more often than we think. My knives have no right to fail even if they are used incorrectly, or even barbarously.” There is some truth in this, of course, but the merits of a knife are ultimately determined by its suitability for what we do with it. However, naturally, it’s not a sin for us to think. I have only broken one knife in my entire life when I used it specifically as a pry bar: I had to pick up something and lift it up. I had little doubt that the knife would not hold up, but I had no choice. It happened during one rescue mission and I did what I had to do. Well, as for the broken knife... what a knife - I just bought myself a new one. It really wasn't as expensive as F?llkniven A1, This one would have survived for sure. So there is something to think about.
Another argument in favor of a knife with a fixed blade. The handles of most folding knives, even older models, do not have a guard; the shape of the handle and its unsmooth, rough sides are all that can prevent the hand from slipping onto the blade. The shape of the handle cannot be arbitrary - after all, when the knife is folded, the blade is hidden in it. The handle of a knife with a fixed blade does not have such a design limitation, and therefore its shape is usually more convenient (ergonomic), and it is more pleasant and safer to hold such a handle in your hand. Usually does not mean always: for me, let’s say, folding knives remain unsurpassed champions in this kind of competition Benchmade AFCK And Spyderco Tim Wegner the handles of which are better than those of many fixed blade knives (Fig. 25 and 26). But these are rather exceptions; In general, knives with fixed blades have handles that are more comfortable and safer than folding knives of the same size.
Of course, no folding knife can cut a coconut. I split it like this: I take the nut in one hand, a decent knife with a fixed blade in the other, and with the butt of the blade I crack it across the nut! As a rule, the nut is split into two equal halves. I don’t think this could be done with a folding knife; it’s better not to even try. Of course, this is a joke, but at the same time it is an illustration of practical advice: know the limits of your knife’s capabilities and do not cross them, then you have nothing to fear from your knife - it will serve you for a long time and properly.
Big or small? The knife is used for cutting, and therefore its main element is the blade. But it cannot exist without a blade. The longer the blade, the larger the blade we have and the higher the cutting qualities of the knife. A large knife has one more advantage - it is easier to abuse it in case of emergency (say, use it instead of an ax). A larger knife can - although it shouldn't - serve as a reliable weapon if the need arises. Is it so? Yes, yes, but also not without some limitations and side consequences.
A large knife is naturally heavier, which can make a significant difference, for example, when hiking over very rough terrain or when climbing a mountain. A large knife can be attached to a belt or some piece of equipment, but this is not as convenient. A larger knife, as a rule, is also more expensive, but it does not necessarily cut better. A longer blade is usually thicker, and this can negate all its advantages when you need the knife to perform the most ordinary work.
In Internet discussions you can come across the following opinion: in the wilderness, a large knife will be useful to me if I stumble upon a bear. You shouldn’t entertain any illusions: you can’t defeat an adult bear, even if you have a sword in your hands. The best thing to do is just not to bully him and stay away from him. In our climatic zone cutting with a knife is an empty task, and no knife can handle dry pine 20–25 cm thick in any reasonable time. And since a knife won’t replace an ax anyway, why carry an extra weight - a big knife? When going on a long hike, it is best to take with you a small knife and a good-quality medium-sized axe.
Many people believe that in the city a knife may be needed for self-defense. But even if such a need arises, one does not fencing with a knife, so, theoretically speaking, the length of the blade here of great importance does not have. But a long blade can hinder you if they attack you from behind and start strangling you in a small enclosed space, for example in a gateway, on staircase or in an elevator car.
In the city, the wary reaction of others who suddenly discover that some passer-by is hiding a large knife is sharper the longer the knife blade is. Although Polish law does not limit the length of the knife you carry, it will not be easy to convince the police or the court, if it comes down to it, that you only need a knife with a 20 cm blade in your belt for cutting envelopes.
In some European countries, the law determines the length of the blade of a knife that is allowed to be carried secretly is 10 cm, and in some states of the USA the blade must be even shorter - 3 inches, or 7.5 cm. What can we say about England, where such a knife is may cause you trouble, which will most likely result in the confiscation of the knife, and in addition to this, it is possible, a fine. In Switzerland, if you carry a knife that can be opened with one hand, the blade must be no more than 2 inches long. This limitation seems surprising, because we're talking about about a country where most men keep automatic rifles at home! The length of the blade of a knife that you can take with you on a plane is limited on most airlines to 2 inches, or 5 cm. On some airlines, however, they turn a blind eye to blades up to 3 inches, but they will never allow anything longer.
My experience, however, convinces me: in the city, no matter what I need a knife for, I can always get by with a folding version with a 7-8 cm blade, and a 10 cm blade is most likely just a luxury (overkill?). It is difficult to assess unambiguously whether the benefits of a large knife outweigh the troubles that the fears of others may cause you. Outside the city, a knife with a fixed blade 8-10 cm long satisfies my needs by 90%, and a blade reaching 12-13 cm in length meets all my expectations. A knife with such a blade is not so heavy and is quite convenient, but it doesn’t hurt to think about whether you need to carry additional weight just “just in case.”
At the same time, I would not advise even for the sake of simple work take with you a knife with a blade shorter than 5 cm. It is clear that such a blade is quite suitable for sharpening pencils and opening envelopes. But the handle of a small knife, as a rule, does not allow you to hold it in your hand confidently and safely. This can significantly affect the convenience and safety of using the knife. It happens, however, that a knife with a short blade has a handle of reasonable size, such as Spyderco Meerkat specially manufactured so that it can be legally used on an airplane. However, such models are extremely rare.
Practical advice: in the city you can get by with a folding knife with a blade 7–8 cm long. If you decide to carry a knife with a blade 10 cm long, then you really have quite serious reasons; at least you yourself must be convinced of this. It is better not to take with you abroad a knife with a blade longer than 7–7.5 cm, especially if you do not know what rules exist in this regard in this country (countries). If you are flying by plane, the blade of your knife should not exceed 5 cm.
Since we are talking about airlines, I note that I myself was an eyewitness when security refused to allow me to take on a plane a very small knife, the blade of which with a serrated blade was shorter than 5 cm. Information that I found on the Internet confirmed that such an incident - it is no exception that this happens in different countries and is typical for different airlines. The most plausible explanation for this would be that someone once told someone that you could make a hole in the aluminum skin of an airplane with a serrated blade. Perhaps it would have been possible to cut through aluminum with high-quality steel, but in order to get to the outer skin with a knife with a blade 5 cm long, it would have taken more time (I have not tried, but I am generally familiar with the design passenger plane) what it takes to fly from Europe to America. Even if no one bothers you. Such an assumption could be considered complete nonsense, but there is no chance of convincing airport security of this 5 minutes before departure. However, this is not the first and, apparently, not the last nonsense that the media has spread regarding air travel. When the Austrian Glock pistols plastic frame were just beginning to make their brilliant career, many newspapers published information that metal detectors at airports were not able to “notice” these pistols, and therefore terrorists could easily bring them on board. This is not true, since 80% of the mass of these “plastic” pistols are metal parts, and to be convinced of this, it is enough to try to walk through a “frame” with such a pistol at the airport. But newspapers love sensations...
Practical advice: If you want to avoid trouble and long, most likely fruitless explanations, do not take knives with a serrated blade on a plane.
Branded or no-name? The Polish market is flooded with knives from some unknown manufacturers, about whom, if anything is known, it is that they settled somewhere far away in the East. However, this is not only happening in Poland: the world is overwhelmed by a wave of goods made according to the “buy - use - throw away - buy new” recipe, and no one is able to cope with it. I'm not at all against one-time items like toothpicks or condoms; I also don’t mind things that are cheap but short-lived, say, socks or fountain pens. However, there are some consumer goods, regarding which I would like to be sure that I can rely on them - within reasonable limits, of course. For me, this is, in particular, a knife. I have no idea that you can’t open a cardboard box, sharpen a pencil or cut sausage with a knife of unknown origin that costs 30–50 zlotys. I don’t even exclude the possibility that this knife, if used from time to time, will not cause you much trouble, except for the difficult need to constantly sharpen a blade made of bad steel.
The fundamental difference between a branded knife and no-name is that the latter can, but does not have to, cope with his responsibilities as he should. No one can vouch for the quality of materials or the conscientiousness of execution, and who can vouch when it is not even known who made the knife. No one is responsible for the accuracy of execution, and therefore for the proper operation of the mechanisms and the safety of the user. No one can guarantee that the knife will work at all. Let's imagine an extreme, albeit plausible, situation: a police officer or rescue worker has only a few seconds to pull an unconscious accident victim from broken car, which is about to catch fire or is already blazing. It is difficult to reach the seat belt buckle if you are near open doors, even if the car is on wheels and everything is working. Then you grab the knife, and then it turns out that this “mongrel” has already served his purpose! I won't continue...
By this, of course, I don’t want to say at all that branded knives are 100% trouble-free, although mine personal experience confirms: this is so. In addition, the manufacturer of the branded knife gives it a “lifetime” guarantee. If something fails due to poor quality material or poor workmanship, it is enough to send the knife to a company where it will be fixed (and even sharpened) or replaced with a new one and sent to the user at his own expense, accompanied by an apology and gratitude for his patience. At least, this is what all the manufacturers whose knives I talk about in this book do. In the several years preceding the writing of the book, more than two hundred branded knives passed through my hands, and only two of them had a manufacturing defect - the locking device did not function very reliably. And although it was still very far from malfunctioning, and a slight loosening of the mechanism was not revealed immediately, only after intense, almost extreme permissible work knife, the manufacturers of these two knives sent me new ones in return at their own expense.
No-name in such a situation, you will have to throw it in the basket and buy a new knife, making sure once again that the stingy pays twice.
Once a salesman in a store that sold knives, having seen a prototype of a branded and very expensive knife, put it something like this: “How much could it cost - 150 dollars? No one will buy this from me, you wouldn’t buy it for that kind of money either.” Is it really no one? In the end, how much does a small car cost, and how much "Mercedes"- ok, let it not "Mercedes" let "Ford" or "Toyota"? So why doesn't everyone drive a small car? After that conversation with the salesman in the store, I wondered for a long time whether I really wouldn’t buy this knife, and came to the conclusion that I would. Even if I only had enough for one knife, it would, without a doubt, be a good thing.
Three years have passed since that conversation, and branded knives began to appear more and more often on the shelves of the same store. So maybe I'm right? Or maybe the poor cannot afford to buy things of dubious quality and short-lived? But let everyone decide for themselves.
Expensive or cheap? Even knives that are known about who produced them, that is, branded knives, cost differently, and the difference in price can be several times greater. Unfortunately, some economic laws cannot be beat, and good things must be expensive. In the production of knives, the most expensive thing is not high-quality materials, but the technological process of their processing. For example, blades made of AUS-6 or 440A steel, which are found in the cheapest branded knives, can be stamped from rolled steel. And blades from ATS-34 or CPM 440V, which are used on the most expensive knives, are laser cut from sheet steel. Handle frame material zytel or kraton produced by injection method, a micarta or G-10 require precise cutting. In both cases, the difference in the cost of processing is many times greater than the difference in the cost of the source material.
In order not to bore you too much with theoretical calculations, I will say that knives have a very decent price-quality ratio, the retail price offered by manufacturers ranges from 70 to 100 dollars. For that kind of money you will get a knife that is well made and quite suitable for convenient and safe use. As the Americans would say, money and a knife. When getting ready to travel, especially if the route lies abroad, I, as they say, with a clear conscience, put in my pocket a knife that is not the most expensive. Thoughtful design, embodied in simple but high-quality materials, good quality and reliability, which you can completely trust, reasonable price. It is the latter who decides the matter: she will not allow me to commit suicide out of despair if such a knife is lost or if it is confiscated from me in foreign lands by a hypervigilant customs officer or policeman.
Knives for 100–150 dollars are high quality work, exquisite design, the best materials, such knives will never fail anywhere: whether you open an envelope or sharpen a pencil, whether you want to cut a flower or cut a car seat belt, whether you have to take part in a rescue operation or defend yourself if you are attacked (well, that’s it) I don’t wish this on any of my readers). Although the benefit-price ratio of such knives may not be as favorable as that of cheaper knives, their quality and reliability are incomparably higher.
When I go on a visit, I put in my pocket the most expensive knife that I can still afford to buy - for 150–200 dollars. Such an elegant knife is simply pleasant to hold in your hands, and even more pleasant to show it to your friends. We, after all, have the right to be snobbery, and not just to make mistakes. For reliability, quality and beauty, however, you have to pay more. I call it luxury.
If I were to travel to the Siberian taiga, the Tibetan mountains or the Amazon jungle, the first thing I would think about is the reliability of the knife, not its price. After all, it may happen that the knife breaks, and you can’t buy another one for any amount of treasure. But even in such circumstances, I would be quite happy with a knife for $100–$150.
This is an acceptable price range for me for the knives I use. Of course, such price limits are very arbitrary - everything here is dictated, in addition to common sense, by your financial capabilities. I know people who constantly carry folding knives in their pockets for almost $350, and when going out of town on a picnic, they take a knife with a fixed blade, which costs about the same. If you look around carefully, you can find people who are not interested in knives that are cheaper than those made in one copy artistic products, the price of which in dollars is expressed as a number followed by four or five zeros. The topic is by no means exhausted by this. I'm willing to bet that if anyone wanted to buy a knife for $1,000,000, there would probably be someone who would not only make such a knife, but also convince the buyer that it was worth it. Demand determines supply, I didn’t discover it.
If we put aside snobbery and try to evaluate, as objectively as possible, the consumer qualities of a knife, we can find that above a certain price limit, a very tiny or simply imaginary improvement in quality leads to an increase in price that is completely incomparable with the benefits of this. I know that a $100 knife won't let me down, but I'm not at all sure that a knife made from the same materials but three times more expensive will do the job for me.
Yes, of course, manufacturers willingly publish advertising slogans or reviews praising their products. I myself have written many such reviews for various media, but I tried to highlight the actual consumer advantages of the knife, and not some “tight processing tolerances” that are interesting to no one knows and why they are needed. And I also noticed that only a few manufacturers of knives, even expensive ones, dare to publish objective data, especially those obtained by independent research centers. Even more than that: often an attempt to start a discussion on this topic causes a “defensive” reaction from the manufacturer.
Practical advice; if you want to be confident in your knife, buy the product famous manufacturer, the best you can afford. Try, however, not to go beyond the manufacturer's stated retail price of $50 to $150. Having crossed them (either down or up), you run the risk of being disappointed with the quality-price ratio.
So, we have discussed the main selection criteria that are common to all knives; Let's now try to divide the knives into groups - depending on their purpose. Here, too, there are a lot of all kinds of prejudices that are firmly entrenched in people’s minds and encourage them to make wrong decisions. It is believed that a hunting knife is needed for hunting, and an army knife is needed for hand-to-hand combat.
Hunting knives.“Why is he so small?” - one lady asked me, looking at the pictures for my article about the company’s hunting knives Spyderco in the magazine “Lowiec Polski” (“Polish Hunter”). The knife we were talking about (ill. 36) is not so small at all; it can easily cut medium-sized hunting prey, such as a deer or wild boar.
The explanation here is simple: the lady thought that a hunting knife was a tool intended for hunting, if not the main one, then at least an auxiliary one. We must admit that this was once the case. When they hunted with crossbows and single-barreled flintlock guns, such a knife (actually a hunting dagger, Fig. 37) was an indispensable part of the hunter’s equipment. It was intended mainly for finishing off (stabbing) a shot large animal. Such a dagger could also be very useful if, after an unsuccessful hit or simply a miss, an angry animal “offered” the hunter to switch roles. The long and heavy, often double-edged blade of this knife was a poor assistant in parking lots and was not at all suitable for cutting up a dead animal. However, in those days when they hunted with crossbows and flintlocks, some hunted, while others set up camps and butchered the prey.
Nowadays, the classic hunting dagger, although it has already lost its former purpose, continues to be a source of pride for the hunter and a kind of sign of belonging to the hunting fraternity. It is not surprising that such knives are still readily bought and, therefore, produced. The only difference is that now a hunting knife takes place of honor not on the hunter's belt, but in his knife collection. Hunting knife self made, made with special care, distinguished by beautiful finishing or carving on the handle, stands out against the background of multi-functional, but lacking in personality modern knives, these products of high technology, and, without a doubt, serves as an adornment to any collection.
Nowadays, when hunting, a hunting knife plays a completely different role. It is needed for everyday work at a rest stop - say, for cooking, preparing for an overnight stay or repairing equipment. The knife needed for all this, in essence, is no different from typical bivouac (camping) knives, to the story of which we will now move on (ill. 39).
If the hunt was successful, then the shot animal must be gutted almost immediately, at least as soon as possible. If you hunted animals that are not eaten, only for the sake of their skin or fur (for example, a fox), then there is no point in dragging home the entire carcass, with which you then don’t know what to do. It’s better to skin it in the forest, and the local predators or carrion lovers will willingly “recycle” the rest. In other words, there are two more tasks that a hunting knife is designed to cope with: gutting a shot animal and skinning it. In both cases, a small knife is required so that it can be reached everywhere (Fig. 40). The knife must be balanced in such a way that it can be used to make precise cuts, that is, either neutrally or according to the “heavy handle - light blade” principle. Skinning the Beast average size- it's a lot of work, careful and requiring concentration. Therefore, a heavy knife is not needed for such work - it will constantly remind you of itself, and your wrist and palm will get tired from having to perform many small movements. A large, especially double-sided, guard will not be useful to you at all, it will only get in the way. Some people believe that the guard, no matter what, protects the palm and does not allow it to slip onto the blade during operation, but without a guard you can get hurt. I agree, a small guard probably won’t hurt if the knife is intended for everyday hunting work, but when gutting an animal, any guard will only get in the way. Cutting anything is a dangerous action by definition. An unbalanced person who does not know how to accurately calculate his movements, whose fingers do not work well, or who is simply incompetent, can be injured by a knife with a double-sided or even a closed, D-shaped guard, like a saber. I'm not even talking about the fact that no guard will protect his other arm, leg, chest, stomach, etc. But a careful person, whose fingers work normally, and who also skillfully wields a knife, will not be injured by a knife without garda. If this were not so, the Scandinavians and many other peoples would not have fingers on their hands at all, because a traditional Scandinavian hunting knife or a knife intended for everyday work in the field generally does without a guard, even the tiniest one. A comfortable handle that fits well in the palm, trimmed with a material on which the hand does not slip - that’s all that is really needed. Classic, wood or deer horn, the handles of hunting knives are held in the hand noticeably worse than modern ones, the handles of which are trimmed with a synthetic, rubber-like material - for example, kraton. We must also not forget that during work, hands are often wet and smeared with blood (paint, as hunters call it) and the fat of the animal. And it’s not surprising that often, along with models finished with classic materials, the exact same knife is also produced in a working version, with a handle made of practical but ugly synthetics.
Animals that become the prey of a hunter are different sizes, and skinning a hare is not at all like skinning an elk or a bear, and I’m not even talking about a buffalo. It is clear that to cut a small animal you need a smaller knife. However, another thing is also clear: if an elk is several times larger than a hare, then the knife with which to skin it should not be as many times larger than the knife for gutting the hare. A large knife is not as convenient and not as maneuverable; This is especially felt when you need to do work that requires precision. The blade of a knife designed for skinning and gutting even a large animal should, as a rule, not be longer than 10–12 cm. When it comes to small animals or birds, it is better to use a knife with an even shorter blade, say 6– 8 cm. Actually, all this work comes down to “clean” cutting of the sides of the blade high pressure They don’t test it on themselves, so the optimal blade thickness of almost all hunting knives is 2.5–3.5 mm. True, hunting knives are also produced in which the blades reach a thickness of 4, and sometimes even 5 mm. But in such cases, the manufacturer, as a rule, proceeds from the assumption - and usually he is absolutely right - that his knife will be useful not only for skinning prey.
Gutting and skinning are processes that consist of many smooth, precise cuts, and therefore a knife with concave sections is best suited for this. However, many hunting knives are produced with completely or almost flat grinds. And - also in order to make the knife more versatile, suitable for other jobs, for example, for cooking. It is better if the tip of the blade is not too aggressive and sharp - this will reduce the likelihood that you will pierce the intestines of the animal during the process of gutting the prey or spoil its skin when you start to peel it. But it is not only the blade of the knife that cuts, the tip also cuts, so in some cases cutting with the tip of a knife can be very effective. Therefore, you should not deprive yourself of this opportunity by completely rounding the tip. In my opinion, the most suitable blade profile for most hunting knives is in the style drop point. This does not only apply to special knives, which are intended exclusively (or almost so) for final, “finishing” skinning, or so-called skinning. The tip of the blade of such a knife can be almost round and strongly “upturned”, protruding beyond the conventional line representing the axis of the handle. In English literature, a similar knife is called skinner(from the word skin - skin, skinning- skinning) (ill. 42). A manufacturer sometimes offers the buyer the same knife model in different versions. Recently the company Spyderco released a very successful hunting knife Bill Moran Featherweight with blade profile drop point - in addition to the basic model with an upturned and sharp tip (Fig. 43).
There is no consensus on what the blade of a hunting knife should be. Some hunters prefer a smooth, calm arc of the blade, from the blade of the blade to its very tip (Fig. 44). Others prefer a more expressive, protruding “belly” of the blade and its straight line to the handle (Fig. 45). Everyone, however, agrees that the arc of the blade should be quite clear. This helps you focus the force on the desired part of the blade and more confidently control the cut. Straight blade type Wharncliffe, and especially the concave one, at least in the front part, is not used in hunting knives. Although a slightly concave segment on one third of the rear section of the blade makes it easier to cut smooth, springy and therefore difficult to dissect veins and muscles. This blade is also useful for cutting fish fins, scales and bones (Fig. 46). It can also be replaced by a blade with a short serrated section at the back.
Can a hunting knife be folding? And why not, actually? A gunsmith friend of mine, an avid hunter, thinks this way: “I prefer a folding knife. It does not cling to bushes in the forest, does not rub against the weapon, I can put it in a spacious pocket. And besides, I know: no matter what happens, I won’t push myself against him. You say it could be clogged with dried blood and fur? So what, it’s hard to wash it, or what? I'll throw it in a bowl of water overnight, and in the morning I'll clean it with a hand brush, and that's the end of it. After all, every knife needs to be washed anyway.” Is he right? Perhaps yes.
A hunting knife should remain sharp for a long time. The thick skin of a wild animal, covered with thick hair, quickly dulls the knife. It’s even worse if the wool is very dirty, covered in sand; the forest animal is still not a petted domestic poodle. A dull knife requires excessive effort, loses accuracy and therefore becomes more dangerous. And in order not to be distracted by sharpening, it is best to purchase a decent branded knife made from high-quality materials. The steel must be sufficiently rigid. The flip side of rigidity - fragility - does not play a decisive role here, although it is clear that an encounter with a bone or a bullet fired by you should not cause the blade to crumble. However, you shouldn’t bother yourself with this, because when cutting up prey there is a lot of effort and sudden movements not needed. Stainless steel will perform better than carbon steel - it is less susceptible to corrosion, and this is important if you are going to remote places for a long time. I advise you to avoid dull, matte blades: during long-term use, their surface is more susceptible to corrosion than a smooth, polished one. A light-repellent coating on the blade is not necessary - we're not at war - but at least it won't hurt. Because even stainless steel capable of rusting, although not so much, additional protection for the blade, in my opinion, is certainly not a waste of time. Moreover, I do not understand the hostility of most hunters to blades coated with a special compound, especially black.
General purpose knives, they are also called bivouac, camping, etc. In other words, we are talking about a moderately universal knife, which we take with us to uninhabited or, at worst, sparsely populated places. There is a rule: “Take a folding knife, but only if you need it,” so it is obvious that you should give preference to a knife with a fixed blade. However, this is not so obvious: travelers, especially in our climate zone, always have an ax as an integral part of their equipment. And therefore it is likely that the knife will only be needed for cooking, opening packages, current repairs equipment, preparing wood chips and similar work feasible for a hunting knife. There is no need to use a knife to cut, even lightly, and if so, then there is no point in carrying around a large and heavy knife with a fixed blade. Especially when you are traveling on foot. If for some reason you are going on a hike alone, you will definitely need a good-quality, medium-sized axe. It can be complemented by a large folding knife, hunting or tactical folders, which I will tell you about now. If you nevertheless decide to take a knife with a fixed blade with you, then, for my taste, a small hunting knife like the one we just discussed would be just right.
It’s a completely different matter if we’re not going to the Siberian taiga, but to the nearest forest for a picnic or barbecue. Here you can “arm yourself” with a larger knife. It is possible that it will be useful even for modest cutting: well, let’s say, you want one light elegant With a movement, cut down a twig to bake a sausage on a stick over the fire. The ladies will be delighted - wow, master! Nice... Someone will be surprised: “What are you talking about, Seryozha?! Carrying a knife to a picnic is more than carrying a knife to the Siberian taiga?!” Yes, that’s right: I won’t have an ax at the picnic, but chopping with a knife can make life a little easier. Besides, I go to a barbecue without a backpack, without sleeping bag, without a tent, without a supply of provisions, without a rifle and without God knows what else. So a knife that is a little heavier and won’t cause me any more trouble.
What should a general purpose knife be - a little larger or a little smaller? I would prefer a blade that is not very thick (3-4 mm) with a flat or very high concave grind, with a not very aggressive type tip drop point. Steel is best stainless steel; surface treatment does not matter much, although protective coating, of course, it won't hurt. It’s good if the balancing of the knife is neutral, but if the knife is larger, then the center of gravity may be on the blade, on its very heel, but not further. I prefer a handle finished in a hard synthetic material rather than a natural one. A large guard is not needed, a symbolic one is enough, but it may not exist at all. The recess under the index finger will reliably protect your hand, preventing it from slipping onto the blade. Scabbard from synthetic material will cause you less trouble than leather ones, although leather ones also have advantages (more on this in the “Scabbard” chapter).
Army knives. This concept is often referred only to combat knives, that is, intended primarily for war and fully meeting this particular purpose. Such ideas are widespread mainly among civilians, who believe that the army does nothing but fight, and all soldier’s equipment should serve exclusively for this. The editor of one military newspaper, whom I persuaded to refute such primitive views, objected to me: “I know that a soldier needs a knife to kill almost in the last place. And you know this, but our readers want to read about knives that are meant to kill.” Here I can freely express my opinion on when a soldier uses a knife as a weapon.
First of all: combat, although it serves as the main means of achieving military goals, is by no means the only occupation for a soldier. It remains to be seen whether a soldier will have to engage in battle, much less use a knife, even if he is a scout or paratrooper operating behind enemy lines. But he must eat every day, and this is well known to everyone. Does a soldier generally have many tasks for which he needs a knife? - for example, opening a package, quickly fixing some equipment, preparing an overnight stay. It is equally likely that the knife will have to be used for rescue work - for example, to free a wounded comrade from equipment. A knife adapted only for combat is, as a rule, a useless tool. To make sure of this, I tried to compare the cutting capabilities of several different types of knives, deciding to cut a half-inch hemp rope folded into four as a test material. One of the most best knives army type that I know D2 Extreme Fighting/Utility Knife, produced by an American company Ka-Bar, taking as a model a knife that had proven itself well during the Second World War, it turned out to be a very mediocre tool. Although the knife was sharp as a razor and did a good job of shaving the hair on my forearm, I was not able to cut the hemp rope folded in four along the entire length of the rather small blade.
From the book Where, When and How to Fish author Ushakova N ICHAPTER 1 LOOK FOR THE FISH YOURSELF, IT DOESN’T NEED YOU “The fish looks where it is deeper, and the man looks where the fish are.” (Proverb) First of all, dear anglers, we will introduce you to some basic rules fishing on the reservoirs of our country, the advantages and privileges of members of societies
From the book All Float Tackle author Balachevtsev Maxim From the book Maintenance and minor car repairs with your own hands. author Gladky Alexey AnatolievichWhat is a clutch used for and what does it consist of? The car's clutch is designed to briefly disconnect the engine from the gearbox, as well as to smoothly connect these units when the engine is running. Among other things, the clutch does not allow sudden changes
From the book How to turn a hobby into a business. Monetization of creativity author Anna Tyukhmeneva From the book Strawberries. Growing experience author Sold A. N. From the book Grafting and re-grafting of fruit crops and ornamental shrubs author Kositsyn Yu. V.1.6.1. Which mixer should you choose? Today, there are well-proven mixers from China on sale, which in general do not cause any complaints. True, this situation was not always the case, so I would not recommend Chinese faucets in the past. Now it’s a different matter. They
From the book Ploskorez Fokina! Dig, weed, loosen and mow in 20 minutes author Gerasimova Natalya From the book Grapes without difficulty author Kizima Galina AlexandrovnaWithout exaggeration, the knife is called the very first kitchen utensil in history.
Nowadays it is difficult to imagine a kitchen without knives; every housewife has several of them, of various types and sizes. Which knife is used for what is determined by its shape.
Knives can be divided into 2 groups: basic knives that almost everyone has, intuitively selected for basic needs, and additional knives that make cooking easier.
Which knife is for what?
Main group:
Utility knife:
It has a sharp, wide, hard blade, 15-30 cm long. It is multifunctional and is used for cutting most products: from vegetables and bread to minced meat and bones.
Paring knife:
Small in size, the blade is narrow and short, 5-11 cm long. Used for peeling vegetables and fruits.
Bread knife:
It has a narrow blade, often serrated, 13-23 cm long. It makes it possible to easily cut bread, loaf or cake.
Additional knives:
Chef's knife
The blade is approximately 21-23 cm long, has a heavy handle, a thick, wide and long blade with a central tip. Very convenient for shredding cabbage, cutting vegetables, herbs, as well as frozen meat, poultry and fish
Potato peeler:
A small knife has a concave blade and a lowered tip, about 7.5 cm long. It is convenient for peeling, picking out eyes, cutting out damaged ones, and so on.
Utility vegetable knife:
It has a narrow blade, 13-20 cm long, with a smooth or serrated cutting edge. Designed for slicing vegetables and fruits with uneven hardness: hard skin and soft core, such as tomatoes, lemons, etc.
Knife for "bones"
The blade is narrow and elongated, 10-18 cm long, flexible, with a sharp tip. Designed to separate meat from bones and veins from meat. Very convenient for cleaning fish, processing meat and chicken, cutting meat joints, removing fat, tendons and so on.
Steak knife
A small knife, has a narrow blade 10-15 cm with a wavy edge and an upward tip. They are used during meals to cut ready-made meat products and other food.
Cheese knife
A small knife with a smooth, serrated cutting edge. Often the tip is made forked in order to transfer already cut pieces. Large holes in the knife blade help separate the cheese from the blade.
Knife for decorative cutting .
A knife with a shaped blade is used for decorative cutting of vegetables, fruits, as well as cheese and dough.
Mushroom knife
It has a short blade and a brush on the handle, which can be used to brush off spruce needles, leaves and other debris from hats. 
Pizza cutter
Cuts with the sharp edge of a wheel that rotates on the handle. The wheel can also be made of special hard plastic, to which the dough sticks less.
Zesting knife
Allows for subtle shooting top layer peels.
Hatchet
This is a knife with a heavy, wide, hard blade. Used for chopping thin bones, chopping beef, fish or poultry.
Kitchen scissors.
They are used for a variety of purposes: from cutting greens and opening packages to cutting poultry and fish.
A detailed and detailed guide to all types of existing knives, which will explain to you for what purposes certain types of knives are used.
Knives in the kitchen: types
A little history. The appearance of knives in the kitchen is not such an ancient phenomenon. Majority folk cuisines involves the use of one, universal knife, be it an Uzbek-Uyghur pchak, a Finn or a Nepalese kukri. These universal knives are practically no different from hunting and combat knives. Typically, dishes from archaic folk cuisines are prepared without a knife, and the cutting of primary products is done outside the kitchen - by the hunters or fishermen themselves. For preparations, special tools are used, which can be classified as knives at a stretch, such as cabbage choppers. Professional knives appeared in popular culture not so long ago - at the end of the 19th century in Europe and more recently in Russia - moving from restaurant kitchens to homes.
An echo of the tradition of the universal knife is an absolutely wonderful phenomenon - the “favorite knife.” Most people who cook in our country have a favorite knife. For those who work with a knife while sitting - this is a root knife, for those who stand - a chef or santoku. A minority of cooks do not have a favorite knife, but they do have a large arsenal from which they select knives suitable for a particular operation.
First, let's talk about our favorite knives.
Root knife.
Root knives look something like this. 
This is a medium-sized knife—smaller than a chef's knife and longer than a paring knife. The length of the blade is 14-16 cm, the blade is narrow, often slightly flexible, but not like that of a fillet. The butt of the knife is in line with top part handles, blade - slightly protrudes beyond the handle. The name comes from the word “roots” - for cleaning and cutting root vegetables. What's so great about a root knife? This is undoubtedly one of the pinnacles of versatility. With this knife you can peel, select defects in root vegetables (such as the eyes of potatoes), cut, chop finely, fillet fish if you are skilled, and perform most deboning operations. In addition, the shape of this knife allows you to work with several grips - the usual one, when the hand fits around the handle, 
"pressing the blade" if you work with the part of the blade closest to the tip, 
“index finger on the butt” when special cutting control is required, 
“blade in hand”, when we need to use the part of the blade farthest from the handle, 
“reverse” - which is used in some deboning operations, 
“index finger on the side surface” - when you need to make a horizontal cut. 
These are the main ones. There is also something like pressing the butt of garlic with an inverted grip, chopping something hard by pressing the butt with your thumb, pressing the tip of the knife and chopping something with oscillating movements, and so on. 
But, most importantly, the geometry of the root knife and its grip allow you to work while sitting at a regular table. Table top height regular table- up to 75 cm, while the height of standard kitchen surfaces is more than 85. This is important. The fact is that in Russia, traditionally, there have never been surfaces for “standing-up” cooking. There was a dining table, on which, if necessary, they cooked. Additional, auxiliary planes were used, as a rule, as permanent (salt, for example) and temporary storage places - to place and rearrange bowls. Modern Russian housewives also prefer to work while sitting, although it seems that everyone has had a lot of standard kitchen surfaces for a long time.
What else is important in a root knife? Well, first of all, its weight. This is a lightweight knife. Since he is light, he is obedient. Balancing this knife doesn't matter. Secondly, the line of the blade is close to the axis of the handle - this also contributes to easy controllability of the knife.
But this feature has its drawback - it is almost impossible to make a beautiful cut with a root knife - the blade will always “walk”. Compare cuts, for example, for ham - from a chef's knife, from a slicer, from a Japanese long blade and from a root knife. The root knife is designed for back-and-forth cutting; it is too short. This is another of its features.
In Japan, knives are produced that are extremely similar to root knives. They have a blade line a little further from the axis of the knife than traditional ones, but steel is better.
If you want to use such a knife as a root knife, cut off the sharp edge of the blade that is adjacent to the handle - this is an extremely traumatic moment if such a knife is used in the Russian “sedentary” tradition.
It will turn out like this:
PPPS. I completely forgot. Another advantage of a root knife is the ability to use it during the stuffing process. That is, instead of a pinning needle. I won’t write about piping needles, it’s not entirely on topic. I just observed many times when ripping punctures are made with a root knife, sometimes cross-shaped, in order to push garlic or carrots into the meat. A thin and fairly long blade allows this. Plus.
Small knives, knife-like things and knife-like gadgets and devices
What do we do when we need to stuff a piece of meat for boiled pork with, say, carrots? Or garlic. We take the narrowest knife on the farm - a boning knife, a fillet knife, or, at worst, a root knife. We pierce the meat crosswise and insert carrots or garlic into the puncture. Right? For this operation there is a special tool - a pinching needle (as they used to say) or a culinary needle, as they say now. It looks like this: 
This is how the product for stuffing is clamped: 
Stretches: 
It turns out: 
I recommend it.
Cake knives
There are wavy and string ones.
Wavy: 
Strings 
Serving knives
I don't stop. There are many of them, they are not sharpened. Table, dessert, for fish, for butter, for caviar and so on.
I will only note that butter knife
designed not for spreading butter on bread, but for breaking off butter from a large piece (yes, there was such a blessed time when butter crumbled under a knife - people did not yet know plasticizers).
With this knife you need to chop off and scrape off a piece of butter, transfer it to yourself, and then spread it on the bread with your dessert knife. It's about etiquette)
Watermelon knives
As a rule, serrators, but there can also be simply knives - long, stable when cutting. 
Jacket potato knife
I couldn’t find it on the Internet, I’ll have to take pictures of mine again(
Here: 
In this pair, it is not so much the knife that is important, but the fork. A regular, four-pronged fork splits the potato in half, which is inconvenient. A fork for peeling potatoes is three-pronged, thin, the teeth are not located in one line, but in a triangle - the potatoes do not fall apart. And the knife perfectly removes the skin and removes eyes and defects. I recommend)
Noodle cutter
This is if you make noodles yourself and do not use special noodle cutting devices:
Noodle cutting devices:
Japanese knife for cutting noodles - we work in the same way as when shredding: 
hook-shaped skin ripper
Again - whoever needs it - hunting is there, household and so on 
Razors for scoring bread dough.
A razor in this case is an excellent choice. It's a blade for a razor. Unlike other super-sharp blades that can be bought in a pack - for drafting knives, for linoleum or for cleaning glass ceramics - razor blades are never sold with industrial lubricant. They are clean and dry, each wrapped in a separate piece of paper. 
Adorable homemade toothbrush: 
From an ice cream stick: 
From aluminum scraps, on wing screws: 
Surgical scalpel - why not? 
From a sugar stir stick stolen from fast food: 
Tomato knife
A tomato knife is a device for people who don’t have sharp knives in the house. Any kitchen knife should cut a tomato. Because: all knives in the kitchen should be sharp. If that doesn't work, then a tomato knife is extremely useful. This is a serrator, shaped like a reduced fish fillet. 
Kosher knife
Again, I think not everyone needs it. Just if you see it on the counter, let them know.
It looks like this: 
The knife is designed for slaughtering animals. If it has a serrated sharpening, the knife is not considered kosher.
Needles
There must be needles in the kitchen - sew up a bird there or something else. I recommend a set of large needles - it is important that the eyes accept standard cooking thread. 
So. Did you tell me everything? If I forgot something, write, I will add it. With this, I want to finish the review of the types of knives and knife-type devices that are most often found in the home kitchen.
Perhaps every housewife knows that one kitchen knife is not enough. Of course, there is no universal knife, but there are types of knives, among which any cook will find the right one. So, what are the different types of knives and how do they differ?
There are many knives - for bread, pizza, fillet, fish, vegetables... I don’t think it’s worth saying much, because it’s much easier to see and remember once, right? 
By the will of fate I became lately I cook a lot and therefore got a new set of knives. Because some of them are of very exotic shape, I was puzzled by the study of the issue. Previously, everything was simple: knives were divided into small and large, and a little later the chef’s knife became a favorite. But no, there is a wild variety of them.
On this occasion, suddenly here is an article about knives. And then suddenly you cut salmon sausage out of ignorance. :-L
Types and purposes of traditional Western (European) knives.
Chefs consider their knives to be the most important tool in the kitchen. In progress professional kitchen Many types of knives are required, each used for a specific task. Knives are distinguished by the thoughtful shape of the blade, the length and location of the handles, the presence of teeth, and blunt or pointed tips. All this is necessary for convenient and correct cutting and slicing of food.
Let's try to understand this diversity!
Peeling knife (Potato)
Paring knife (6-9 cm). The curved shape of the blade is ideal for peeling any fruit or vegetable with a rounded surface (potatoes, apples, pears). The knife is also known as a beak.
Paring knife
Knife for cutting, peeling and slicing fruits and vegetables. A light, convenient and sharp knife with a short, rigid blade up to 10 cm long. The tip is usually centered, but can also be lowered.
Utility knife
A universal knife with a 12-18 cm blade for slicing raw and cooked meat, ham, cheese, bread and vegetables. This is the most popular knife in most kitchens! It is used for cutting vegetables, fruits, sausages, cheese, herbs and small pieces of meat.
Tomato knife
Tomato knife. For delicate slicing of fruits and vegetables that have a hard skin and a soft center: tomatoes, oranges, lemons, etc. The serrated blade (up to 13 cm) will allow you to cut even the ripest tomato, and the forked tip of the blade will help in decorating the dish. Sometimes used as a small bread knife.
Steak knife
Steak knife. The sharp blade (up to 13 cm) of this knife is suitable for cutting any meat dishes. Often the blade has a sharpening in the form of a very fine saw. Typically used as a serving knife for meat dishes.
Boning knife
Boning knife (12-15 cm). Helps cut raw and cooked meat from bones. The knife is medium wide, tapering towards the end. Has a curved cutting surface. The narrow and raised end can easily separate tendons, bones, and fat.
Fillet knife
Fillet knife. Knife for cutting meat and fish fillets (can be used for preparing Japanese fish dishes). The knife has a long, narrow and flexible blade up to 25 cm long. Its design allows you to cut meat or fish in one motion, separate the skin, and fillet. A special blade will prevent the product from crumbling, and the cut will be thin and even.
Bread knife
Bread knife. Thanks to its serrated blade (up to 23 cm), it will easily cut the crispy crust on fresh bread without crushing the crumb or breaking the crust. Ideal for slicing all types of bread and pastries. Can also be used to cut pineapples.
Slicing, Carving knife
Carving knife. A cutting or gastronomic knife with a narrow, long, hard blade up to 25-30 cm long. Used for removing skin, slicing meat or poultry, cutting large vegetables (cabbage, beets, zucchini, pumpkin), slicing watermelon and melon.
Allows you to thinly and accurately cut delicate meat products: ham, boiled pork, sausages. Thanks to air pockets - relief depressions on the blade - the pieces do not stick to the knife.
Cook's knife
"Chief." The Japanese equivalent is called GYUTOU. No kitchen can do without at least one of these knives! This is one of the most sought after knives in the kitchen. Suitable for cutting all types of products. They can be used to cut meat, butcher poultry, chop cabbage and herbs. This knife is a must-have for any chef in a restaurant or cafe. A chef's knife ("chef") has a heavy handle, a wide, hard blade (16-23 cm) with a central point. Perfectly balanced and fits comfortably in the hand.
This knife allows you to:
using HEEL (backdrop) chop greens, onions, garlic, etc.;
using a TIP (tip) cut leeks, celery, onions and vegetables;
Using the middle part, cut large vegetables (cabbage, whole celery root, turnips, etc. You can also cut meat and poultry;
Using the flat part of the blade, crush the garlic.The main part of the work performed by this knife is shredding and it is best suited for it. (I would like to note that the majority of a chef’s time in a restaurant is spent on shredding – this is where his working day usually begins.
Salmon slicer
Salmon knife. It has a very flexible thin long blade 30 cm or more long. Designed for cutting large fish into very thin slices.
Offset handle bread knife
The special shape of this knife allows you to easily cut a cake, baguette or prepare a sandwich.
Santoku – Oriental cook's knife
Santoku. The knife has the traditional shape of a Japanese chef's knife. A Japanese knife is convenient for cutting sushi and sashimi rolls. The knife is also suitable for cooking European dishes. The universal cutting edge and wide blade (20 cm) allow you to use this knife for cutting almost any product, including herbs, mushrooms and spices.
Santoku bōchō– a universal kitchen cutting tool from the Land of the Rising Sun. The name is translated from Japanese as “three uses” (or “three good things”). This means that the knife copes well with three main functions: cutting, chopping, crumbling.
“Santoku” owes its appearance to an ordinary chef’s knife, which appeared in Japan back in Meiji times. The chef's knife was used mainly when cutting meat or fish. After all, there are simply no products beyond his control.
Japanese cuisine at that time was dominated by grains and greens. And, as a consequence of this, the vegetable knife became widespread in the country. It was convenient for them to chop and cut finely. You could even fillet it. However, the vegetable knife could no longer cope with large products, the cutting of which required special efforts. There was a need to create a universal cutting tool. This is how “Santoku” was born.
Having processed and adapted the Western model to their needs, the Japanese created a new kitchen attribute that is excellent at cutting, chopping and chopping food, for which the Santoku knife, in general, is needed today.
So, having a santoku in your kitchen, you can:
cut and slice meat, poultry and fish;
chop the greens;
cut vegetables;
cook crabs;
cut bread, etc..
Cheese knife
Cheese knife. Most often this is a knife with a serrated cutting edge and a forked edge. A rather narrow, slightly curved blade (up to 13 cm) allows you to cut a slice of soft cheese without crumbling it. The handle, raised at a rather sharp angle, makes it possible to cut a slice in one movement from top to bottom, due to which the slices are even in thickness. The slots on some knives are air pockets that prevent the cheese from sticking to the blade of the knife.
Cleaver
Kitchen hatchet. It has a thick, wide blade 15-18 cm long. A powerful tool for cutting large pieces of meat (including frozen), cutting joints and joints.
Straight meat fork
A meat fork will help you when preparing and serving meat dishes.
Sharpening steel
Musat is necessary to maintain the cutting edge of the knife in perfect working condition.
Operating rules kitchen knives
– do not wash knives in the dishwasher and wipe them thoroughly after washing;
– do not store knives together with metal objects (dishes, cutlery, etc.);
– do not cut food on a glass or marble surface; not a single sharpening and not a single knife can retain its properties on them for a long time, despite the aesthetic beauty of such boards.
A sharp knife flashes like a silver fish in the chef’s hands. Greens in small scatterings, meat in juicy layers, bread generously in slices. A good knife in a confident hand changes the process of cooking. And sometimes it fixes everything. When everything doesn’t go well, it burns and boils over, it cuts crookedly or crumbles inappropriately - just change the knife, and a sharp blade will quickly restore order.
According to statistics, eight out of ten knives in our kitchens do not meet basic quality standards for these products. You ask what they should be quality knives?
Every chef is familiar with the magic of a sharp knife - cutting performance.
A set of knives in the kitchen is practically a portrait of the housewife, only made of steel with a sharp sharpening. A sophisticated cook collects a collection for all imaginable tasks, a practical woman will choose 3-4 knives and will be satisfied. But these must be correct knives.
How to choose the right kitchen knife
Undoubtedly, you can cope in the kitchen even with one knife, as long as it is sharp. There are a lot universal knives- longer and shorter, wider and narrower, made of steel or ceramics. With this knife you can cut raw fish for sashimi, baked veal, and vegetables for salad.
But a utility knife is not the only one possible choice. If you always use one knife, some operations will simply be difficult to perform. And the knife will have to be sharpened more often than usual. That's why modern housewife keeps a set of knives in the kitchen that wouldn’t put a Michelin-starred restaurant to shame.
Let us select our own collection.
Chef's knife
Chef's knife- a serious but peaceful weapon. Wide, medium length(usually about 20 centimeters), with a protruding rear edge of the blade. The shape of the blade is convenient for shredding. You can apply a lot of force and even chop. The butt can be used for beating meat - its thickness can reach 1-2 millimeters. The protrusion of the back of the blade protects the hand from hitting the cutting board or table.
Chefs often use these knives as their main tool, doing most of the work with them. The wide blade is very convenient for collecting freshly chopped products and immediately pouring them into the frying pan. You can crush a clove of garlic or press a lemon against a cutting board to squeeze out the juice. With such a knife they often cut in a special manner - resting the tip on the board, cut vegetables with small short movements, moving the knife up and down like a guillotine.
U European knife The chef has a Japanese brother - santoku. It is similar in form and purpose, but still a little different. Santoku has a straighter blade. Which one to choose - European or Japanese? Decide for yourself, we like both.
But we took the knife again universal purpose. I would like to choose something professional, under different types products.
First, let's collect meat knives.
Meat knives
Let's start with hatchet. This is for bones that can't be easily dealt with and chopping large pieces of meat. Wide hatchets are found in both European and Oriental cuisine.
Further - boning knife. The boning knife must be chosen carefully - both the blade and the shape of the handle are important. It deals only with raw meat, the blade must resist corrosion well, and the handle must not slip in the hand.
Do you have in your collection fillet knife? No? How do you fillet fish and meat? A thin, flexible and sharp knife is a must-have in the kitchen. In addition to meat and fish, it can be used to cut vegetables and other products, but such a knife is ideal for cutting raw meat and fish.
(!) According to sanitation rules, knives and cutting boards for raw and cooked food should be separated. Therefore, boning and fillet knives You should only take it out when you start cooking. If you like how the knife “behaves” when cutting other products, choose another one of the same kind. Or wash your knives very carefully when changing products.
Steak knife- a perfect work of art. This knife is used for cooked meat. Knives with a smooth blade are used to cut medium-rare steaks; a serrated blade is intended for medium- to deep-rare steaks. What kind of steaks do you prefer? If your family loves different steaks, you can choose a knife with a combined sharpening - a smooth blade closer to the handle is replaced by sharp teeth.
You can also add to the collection slicer- a knife for thin slicing of cooked meat and other products. The slicer is used to cut sushi and sashimi components, as well as the finest slices for sandwiches. The slicer should be long, it is designed for cutting in one pass. Pay attention to the bolster - a protrusion on the blade near the handle. It protects your hand from slipping. Do you need to cut smoked meats, sausages, or cooked meats? Get out the slicer.
But enough about the meat. Let's look at knives for other products.
Bread knife
Do you remember what it's like to cut a loaf of bread with a crispy crust? When does it crumble or crumple under the blade of an ordinary knife? But no - you haven’t thought about it for a long time, you have bread knife. It looks like a saw, the teeth of which easily cope with a dense crust and do not crush the bread when cutting. You need to use it in the same way as a saw - do not press, but smoothly move along the cutting line so that the teeth catch on the surface.
Cheese knife
Another difficult “client” is cheese. It just falls in love with the blade, sticks to it and interferes with cutting thin slices. Form cheese knife was invented a long time ago - the holes in the blade prevent the cheese from sticking, and the sharp teeth can be used to distribute slices of cheese. The cutting edge can be either smooth or serrated. If you don't have a cheese knife, use a narrow knife - the same as a slicer, or a knife with air "pockets" - sometimes notches are made in the blade of a utility knife that prevent sticking.
Paring knife
Not enough to complete the set vegetable knife. The little hardworking helper will cut, peel, and clean out the eyes from the potatoes. It can be either steel or ceramic. To peel vegetables, it is better to use a special vegetable peeler - it removes the peel thinner than any knife. A utility knife or shewa knife is suitable for processing large vegetables.
Ceramic knives: What if not steel?
How about ceramic knives? Modern ceramics are present in the kitchen not only in the form of plates and cups. A ceramic knife competes with the sharpest steel, and often wins.
Cutting with such knives is a pleasure. The main thing to remember is choosing a ceramic knife- that it is still ceramics. Inflexibility and fragility - but at the same time razor sharp and long work without sharpening. Housewives who are accustomed to a ceramic knife find it difficult to “retrain” to use regular steel. And you get used to protecting the knife from hitting a hard surface very quickly.
Recently, ceramic-titanium knives have begun to appear in kitchens. They are stronger than ceramic knives and just as incredibly sharp.
Japanese knives: Let's add a little Asia to the kitchen
If you want to decorate your kitchen with Japanese exoticism, you can place ikebana on the windowsills, hang a scroll with hieroglyphs on the wall and go out to guests in a kimono. But all this will be unconvincing - until you replace the forks with chopsticks, the chef's knife with a deba knife with a wide blade, and the slicer with a yanagiba. Nakiri is suitable for vegetables and salad.
Japanese craftsmen are excellent at working with metal. It is enough to say “katana” - and you imagine the elusive swing of a blade cutting a bamboo trunk. However, Japanese kitchen “weapons” are no less formidable and impressive.
Modern Japanese craftsmen make both European and traditional oriental knives. Multilayer Damascus steel, zirconium ceramics, ceramic titanium, various designs of blades and handles - the choice is even too wide.
Well, have you already chosen your knife?
Let's be honest - we were inspired Samura knives. Ideal geometry, finely tapered blade, fantastic cutting performance - this is what manufacturers say about their knives.
If you choose Samura knives, the choice is both simplified and complicated. Simplified - because you don't have to compare good and best, all knives are made to high standards, bringing together Japanese quality and European reliability. It gets more complicated - because you still have to choose, and Samura’s collections are so different, and each is good in its own way.
Products Samura- for those who value a knife in a knife, not status. It is intended for those who are not indifferent to the impression that remains after using the tool.
Samura knives are designed for living and cooking with pleasure.